1. Field
This application relates generally to mesh networks, and more particularly to transmitting data over a wireless mesh network.
2. Background
A wireless mesh network may be defined as two or more nodes that are interconnected via wireless links which communicate via mesh services. Mesh networking enables data, voice, and instructions to be routed between nodes, allowing for continuous connections and reconfigurations around broken or blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until the destination is reached. A mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is considered a fully connected mesh network.
Mesh networks differ from other networks in that the component parts may connect to each other via multiple hops. Mesh networks are one type of ad hoc network. Moreover, mesh networks are self-healing. More particularly, the mesh network can continue to operate even when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad. As a result, mesh networks can be very reliable.
In mesh networking, each node, or mesh point, has a medium access control (MAC) address. The MAC address is unique to each device. A typical MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) that traverses between multiple wireless nodes includes four address fields. These fields typically represent the receiver address, transmitter address, source address, and destination address. Four address fields is the maximum number of address fields that can be included in the current 802.11 MAC header.
When transmitting external data through a mesh network, more than four address fields may be needed to route a packet, because the external source and destination addresses need to be included also. It would be desirable to have method of including additional address fields in protocol data unit carrying data through a mesh network. It would also be desirable to have a method of signaling the presence of these additional address fields, or other mesh-specific information, such as a mesh-specific sequence number.